


Dance With Me

by Maru (maruvelous)



Category: Dangan Ronpa OC - Fandom, Doubt Academy
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-06
Updated: 2015-07-06
Packaged: 2018-04-07 22:14:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4279863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maruvelous/pseuds/Maru
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Time passes. Yukiko? Radient. Pale. Young and beautiful. Eternally a goddess. Jun? Not.<br/>"Am I beautiful?" He asks. <i>Always,</i> she whispers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dance With Me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [me](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=me).



> contains references to the ending of doubt academy 2: white - doesnt necessarily follow the canonical timeline of doubt, but it might if you squint a bit
> 
> i dont own yukiki

It had been too long.

After the events of the DA project; too much had happened - a boy (no, a _man_ ) was much older than he felt, than he was used to - he had people who lived in nothing more than a hard drive. Technology felt useless; technology had felt like a waste. It's not like technology could help him at this point. His blessed games; the thing that gave him such a drive, such feelings - the things that he used to cope with how he is, was - how would that even help him at this point? He couldn't see the end of the tunnel.

Fuck it if he could even _see._

Of course though, he could see... things. He could see things. People, if you so wished. They weren't real, per se - but they were real to him. Something had triggered and even outside of that fuckin' place, he could see them. Or rather, he could just... he could see her. And that's all that mattered.

"Yukiko-" he croaked, "Help me get to the bathroom?"

 _Yes, of course._ She whispers, voice silky. _Stand up, first._

He stretches getting out of the rocking chair. _The sunset looks beautiful right now._ Jun chuckles. "Really, now? Tell me about it."

Yukiko describes it vividly and Jun keeps his eyes closed. She tells him of the birds in the distance - not crows, thankfully, flapping their wings in the wind. How the clouds have parted in just such a way that allows enough sunlight to stream in without it being, pun intended, _blinding._ To that, they share a chuckle, though awkward. Between scriptures of the sun, she keeps him moving forward - _Keep left a little. Be careful. Watch your head. Oh, dear - be sure to put that back later, okay?_ And he responds in kind, "Of course. Oh! That's a bug in the system. Wh.. D-Dammit, that hurt..."

He uses the bathroom; she continues to lead him. It seemed strange at first and almost gross - disgusting? Kind of icky. But now it feels... It feels normal. This lifestyle, it's become normal.

It's become normal to think about the two beings living in eternal (at least, what he hoped) bliss on a server in the other room, with plenty of of AI places for them to muck about in. It's become normal for his princess, his lady, to become his knight instead. For he was nothing more than a shadow of a knight, let alone a prince. No longer in shining armour (if he even was, in the first place), but more of a garden troll in tin-foil, if anything. And she, she hasn't aged a day. She still looks as radiant as ever, with porcelain skin that is (was) gentle to the touch, with dark hair that falls (fell) so beautifully against the pillows, with eyes that tell (told) secrets - lies and half-truths, but are forever loving towards him.

They were deadlocked in a romance that shouldn't be prospering. And yet, here they are.

She leads him back to his chair where they sit around and talk; his stomach grumbles and she leads him to the kitchen. He's a wonderful cook (it's a good thing he can't see what it looks like in the end). They come up with countless stories about what they were and what they could be.

Nobody really wants to say, 'what we could have been.'

Sometimes, Jun will ask her, "How do I look?"

And she will say, _beautiful._

Once, Jun asked, "How could I be?" And she hesitated for a fraction of a second. His eyes - had he eyes, would have widened. Had he not been so scared, he would have broken something. Had he not felt so fragile and weak and like he has to be strong, he has to be strong, he has to be there for everyone and even though everyone is just him and a fucking _ghost_ he had to be stronger than ever,

"Nevermind." And he walked away.

 _Darling,_ she whispers and he cannot hear, _You are always beautiful to me._

But he cannot hear, he does not turn around to see the tears welling in her own eyes, to see the hands outstretched but reeling back, just a little bit.

He doesn't hear her say, _You are gorgeous, my love._ He doesn't see her sit quietly in the corner, _You are strong beyond belief._

_If I were to be stuck with anyone for eternity, I am lucky that it is you._

\--

"Yukiko, help me make dinner." Jun's stomach grumbles. Distantly, he wonders how Eiji is faring with the his friends. He recalls the rest of them and is just... he wonders, is all.

 _Alright, dear._ She leads him all over again, like routine. They find themselves in the middle of the room; it's empty, there's nothing to knock into. There's no obstacle. It's just him and her in that one little spot. _Jun,_

"Mm?"

 _Will you dance with me?_

He stops and turns to her with an expression of disbelief. "How?"

 _Put you hands out._ And he does. _Around my waist._ And he tries. _Hold me close._ And he fails.

Jun's body passes right through hers and since he can't see, he can't feel - all he can see is her pale figure passing straight through his in this darkness, 

"... Fuck."

 _No no, it's alright. Try again._ And he does. And he does. And he does until he just walks straight through her and presses himself against the closest wall.

He pretends that she can't see him cry. She doesn't say anything, but leaves until he calls out for her a few hours later.

They pretend nothing happen as she helps him up. He says he wants to sleep and she leads him to the bed. She leaves as soon as his head hits the pillow. 

\--

Everything is normal.

\--

Time passes.

Yukiko? Radient. Pale. Young and beautiful. Eternally a goddess.

Jun? Not.

"Am I beautiful?" He asks.

 _Always,_ she whispers.

\--

Jun starts to sleep later than usual; he's always in the server room. Yukiko pretends not to notice; she waits outside.

\--

One day, Jun falls down.

Yukiko moves to help him, but he holds up a hand. "Let me do it." He splays his hands out blindly, looking for a surface to cling to. _But there's nothing there,_ she thinks to herself. He stumbles and she thinks, _he could have reached the edge of the shelf._ He smacks into a wall and she gasps, but nothing more.

_Jun..._

"No."

_But,_

"No!"

_Jun, please! I only want to help yo-_

_**"SHUT UP!"** _

_..._

_I just want to... Help..._

Silence. And then,

"Out of what, love? Or obligation?" He challenges her, finding his footing. "Do you seriously care? Look at me, I'm hideous. I'm old. I'm going to die."

_Jun, please..._

Jun stands there, with the most strength he's had in a long time. He and Yukiko are opposite one another; he stands in old, worn clothes - hair long and matted, the tips of his hair still a pale, faded teal - his skin, pale from a lack of sun. His face, showing signs of age and worry with creases that don't match up. One of his teeth had fallen out long ago. There's a tiny hole where his piercing used to be, but it was thrown out a while back. Then where his eyes would be, where his eyes should be,

_Such beautiful grey eyes..._

"I'm so tired, my lady." Jun's voice is quiet, weary. "I'm so tired of being such a burden. I love you, so... So much. But I worry that you don't... You don't love me the same."

_I do! I love you so much!_

"Really? Do you really?" He struggles to find a seat and eventually settles for sitting back down on the floor. He looks so small. "Do you love me? What about respect? Do you respect me?"

_Wh- ... Of course I do. You know that._

"Do I?" Jun's mind is moving in strange ways. "I don't even know. I can't tell. I can't tell if I respect myself, even."

She resists the urge to correct him that _no, you do, you're strong and kind and beautiful and wonderful and_

"I hate myself. I wish I had died instead of you. I can still remember it, you know. Hearing it all. It was terrifying as you... you almost faded into view for the first time in forever." He stifles a sob. "I feel so alone."

_But I'm here._

"But you're not."

_I can see you, you can see me._

And that seems to set him off. "We can see one another, but we can't feel one another. I can't feel your embrace; I can't... touch you. I can't hug you. I can't feel how warm your hands are. I can't _anything._ "

Silence.

_Jun, dance with me._

"My lady..."

_Please._

_Put you hands out._ And he does. _Around my waist._ And he tries. _Hold me close._

Their fingers interlace; he sees it, at least. _I want you to remember the us of before._ Her voice is a mumble as tears prick at her eyes. _We have survived... so much._ He gulps. _You will survive this. And I will be there right with you._

"But I'm horrible," he whispers back as they dance; they side step and the only music is their own voices, echoing quietly against the walls. "I'm ugly."

_You're beautiful, Jun. From the ends of your hair to the tips of your toes._

And he chuckles. "You know, lying is a sin. You'll go to hell, my lady."

_I'm already there, I think. Good thing you're here with me._

He laughs, he smiles.

It's beautiful.

"You're right."

\--

It was long after.

Much had happened; time had passed. A boy and girl sit on the edge of a bed, chatting away. The walls aren't very detailed - neither is the world around them, frankly. But they, they are vivid. Her with bright red eyes, him with the brightest teal hair this side of the Sun. They were talking in such an animated way. They were happy. She pushes his shoulder and he laughs, pushing her back with the same amount of force.

The world blurs and he moves to adjust his glasses.

"Yukiko," he gets off the bed and stretches with vigor. "Help me make lunch."

"But of course." She takes his hand and leads him away to the kitchen. They cook together like a well-oiled machine. Over lunch, they talk.

"I'll never get tired of the sunset," He looks off into the distance. "It's so pretty."

"I can see something much prettier, honestly."

He turns to her, a mouth full of fried egg. "What?"

Her gaze is unmoving. It takes him a moment, but, "Oh. Oh, my god. No, no you stop that."

She laughs and they continue to eat in silence, save for idle small talk. They clean up and move back to another room. Despite the silence, there is the distant humming of electricity crackling through machine - the sound of the server, still active. For how long, who knows. 

"Hey, Yukiko." He stops her, taking her hand.

"Mm?"

"Will you dance with me?"

A pause. And then, "Of course.

"Put you hands out." And she does. "On my shoulders." And she does. "Hold me close." And she does.

They stand there, pressed against one another. Distantly, Jun thinks- _ah._

_She's warm._


End file.
